One applicant said he was fat, so he would be easier to hit, Mr Toohig added.

Others hoping to secure the job include "an ex-army soldier with experience in guns and weaponry" and an ex-magician’s assistant, who was "once almost shot for real in an illusion that went horribly wrong".

UKPaintball, which has more than 60 paintballing venues in UK, said it was stunned by the response to its search for a "human bullet impact tester".

Candidates from not just UK, but as far away as US, Canada and India, have applied for the £40,000 (S$82,000) a year job testing the impact of paintballs.

Mr Toohig added:

"This incredible response is the last thing we expected when we posted the advert.

"We couldn’t have predicted that so many people in the UK and beyond would want to get shot for a living

"It’s going to be a real struggle attempting to whittle down the thousands of applicants to just one."